Text -- Hebrews 9:15-28 (NET)

9:15 And so he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the eternal inheritance he has promised, since he died to set them free from the violations committed under the first covenant. 9:16 For where there is a will, the death of the one who made it must be proven. 9:17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it carries no force while the one who made it is alive. 9:18 So even the first covenant was inaugurated with blood. 9:19 For when Moses had spoken every command to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 9:20 and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that God has commanded you to keep.” 9:21 And both the tabernacle and all the utensils of worship he likewise sprinkled with blood. 9:22 Indeed according to the law almost everything was purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. 9:23 So it was necessary for the sketches of the things in heaven to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves required better sacrifices than these. 9:24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with hands– the representation of the true sanctuary– but into heaven itself, and he appears now in God’s presence for us. 9:25 And he did not enter to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the sanctuary year after year with blood that is not his own, 9:26 for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the consummation of the ages to put away sin by his sacrifice. 9:27 And just as people are appointed to die once, and then to face judgment, 9:28 so also, after Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many, to those who eagerly await him he will appear a second time, not to bear sin but to bring salvation.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Heb 9:15

¹ tn The Greek word μεσίτης (mesith", “mediator”) in this context does not imply that Jesus was a mediator in the contemporary sense of the word, i.e., he worked for compromise between opposing parties. Here the term describes his function as the one who was used by God to enact a new covenant which established a new relationship between God and his people, but entirely on God’s terms.

² tn Grk “the promise of the eternal inheritance.”

³ tn Grk “a death having occurred.”

NET Notes: Heb 9:16

¹ tn Grk “there is a necessity for the death of the one who made it to be proven.”

NET Notes: Heb 9:18

¹ sn The Greek text reinforces this by negating the opposite (“not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood”), but this double negation is not used in contemporary English.

NET Notes: Heb 9:20

¹ tn Grk “which God commanded for you (or in your case).”

sn A quotation from Exod 24:8.

NET Notes: Heb 9:23

¹ tn Or “prototypes,” “outlines,” referring to the earthly sanctuary. See Heb 8:5 above for the prior use of this term.

² tn Grk “with these”; in the translation the referent (sacrifices) has been specified for clarity.

³ tn Grk “the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.”

NET Notes: Heb 9:24

¹ tn Or “prefiguration.”

² tn The word “sanctuary” is not in the Greek text at this point, but has been supplied for clarity.

NET Notes: Heb 9:25

¹ tn Grk “and not that he might offer,” continuing the previous construction.

NET Notes: Heb 9:27

¹ tn Here ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") has been translated as a generic noun (“people”).

² tn Grk “and after this – judgment.”

NET Notes: Heb 9:28

¹ sn An allusion to Isa 53:12.

² tn Grk “without sin,” but in context this does not refer to Christ’s sinlessness (as in Heb 4:15) but to the fact that sin is already dealt with by his first coming.

³ tn Grk “for salvation.” This may be construed with the verb “await” (those who wait for him to bring them salvation), but the connection with “appear” (as in the translation) is more likely.